1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to an airbag assembly for a motor vehicle and in particular to an airbag assembly for an out-of-position occupant.
2. Background Art
It is known that the use of an airbag may reduce injury to an occupant of a vehicle in the event of a serious collision.
It is a problem with known airbag systems that although an airbag may provide good protection for a correctly positioned occupant such as an unbelted fiftieth percentile male, the same airbag may fail to prevent injury to fifth percentile female occupant seated closer to the inflating airbag due to the high inflation pressure required to provide protection for the unbelted fiftieth percentile male and the location of contact of the airbag with the occupant. It has therefore been proposed to use a seat position sensor such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,544 to determine the position of a seat adjacent an airbag and to increase the venting of the airbag if the seat is determined to be in a forward position. This system would be relatively expensive to implement.It would be desirable to provide an airbag assembly that is economical to manufacture and automatically provides, by its design, a reduced risk to an out-of-position occupant such as an occupant of small stature.